- They've got big ad budgets and they know how to make an image that's gonna stick with you.
The Philip Morris company realized that whenever they showed a cowboy, there was a certain blip in their marketing research and the cowboy was really the most masculine figure.
Then they finally realized, let's go with this and it was a brilliant campaign.
The idea of come to Marlboro Country.
What they're selling is freedom, independence, people outdoors, and the fresh air.
The West as a cultural backdrop held a great appeal to Americans.
They're living in cities, in crowded tenements.
They're working in factories.
This is a way that you can be a part of this larger myth and a part of this larger sense of being free.
- And did the campaign work?
- It worked brilliantly.
It became the largest selling cigarette in the United States and eventually the largest in the world.
It's one of the most successful advertising campaigns of all time.
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